


Foiltale

by InkedFoxtrot



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 21:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12044304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkedFoxtrot/pseuds/InkedFoxtrot
Summary: Undertale AU. "Asriel has been given a chance to help Chara redeem themself, saving their soul from an eternal limbo so they too can pass on. Chara must learn to have H.O.P.E instead of L.O.VE, [FIGHT]ing Monsters’ inner fears and insecurities all the while Frisk shows them [MERCY] in the physical world. Runs concurrently with Frisk’s True Pacifist Run, but in a mirror-like realm to the original game."(Tags and warnings subject to change as the story progresses.)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Chara and Frisk's Pronouns: They/Them

Prologue

" _Can a soul so full of hatred even be redeemed?"_

Chara awoke to find themself in the Ruins once more. Confused, they were alone and afraid as they try to remember what had happened. Suddenly, the memories all came flooding back: the "butterscotch" pie they consumed, the hellish fever that followed, a familiar voice piercing through their death throes and pleading them to "Stay determined!", a swift passing before being yanked back into life and traversing through the barrier.

 _Then, the human village…_  Their eyes darkened as they recalled the horror and anger on the villagers' faces. The humans had attacked them- attacked Chara and attacked  _Asriel!_  A humorless smile started to form between rosy cheeks, their fist crushing a damnable buttercup flower beneath. "I knew it… Humans and Monsters can't get along after all."

 _Before we could say anything, they assaulted us_. Their clenched hand trembled as they remembered Asriel's consciousness, scared but unyielding, fighting against Chara's want to swing at their aggressors in retaliation. Echoes of the pain caused them to flinch, recalling the spears and fire as they penetrated and scarred their combined body. The humans had killed their brother, the kindest, most gentle creature this world had ever known.

…

… No, it was Chara that had killed their brother. In going along with their plan, Asriel met the same fate as his sibling. Chara hadn't wished for this; the human just wanted to find a way to break the barrier and set the peaceful Monsters free.

"But it seems humanity just can't help but kill everything it touches." Chara slowly got up. "I guess there's only one thing left for me to do now: kill the humans."  _Including me._

" _Humans and Monsters_ can _get along!_ "

That voice…! I-it couldn't be! Asriel?!


	2. Chapter 2

Part 1

"Humans and monsters  _can_  get along!"

Chara's body all but froze its ascent as they recognized the voice behind them. "Asriel?" their voice called out, shaky. Chara's mind spun in a whirlwind of questions and emotions- elation, anger, melancholy, confusion, relief. But all too abruptly, their heart settled on shame and Chara suddenly couldn't face their brother. "I…" Their throat tightened as they remembered the moments leading up to their death, remembered the fighting their combined consciousnesses had during their last moments: the anger and confusion Chara held then as they were beaten and Asriel holding them back with all their might, the searing pain they both felt as the attacks landed but still, Asriel cried out in their soul not to fight back. Then, when all was over and they were dying, the sadness they both felt in knowing that this was the end, that they spent their final moments not trying to save Monsters, but fighting like in the legends of old.

As so, Chara couldn't bear to look at their brother as they sat on the bed of flowers. They opened their mouth, but no words passed through the thick lump of emotions in their throat. After a couple attempts, they just closed it.

A few heavy moments passed between them before soft footsteps sounded, and Chara flinched when they stopped a foot behind them. Did Asriel hate them? Would he berate Chara's actions? Would their brother—

"Hey, remember when we used to play around here?" Asriel's voice was peaceful as he sat down next to his adoptive sibling.

Chara was taken aback. It took him a couple moments to register what Asriel had said. "W-what?" The human finally turned around and sure enough, Asriel was peering at him with those large, green, innocent eyes. He still looked like his eleven-year-old self, except for what looked to be cuts and dust on his green-and-yellow jumper. In addition, the end of his left ear was clipped off and looked to be dabbed in dust.  _Right, one of the villager's swords lopped off part of our ear,_  Chara recalled darkly.

Asriel repeated himself, bringing Chara back to the present. "I asked if you remembered playing here. Don't tell me being dead affected your hearing; too much dirt in your ears?" Asriel lightly teased, giggling at the deadpan face Chara gave him. Instead of responding, Chara rolled their reddish-brown eyes and turned to look at their surroundings:

It was Home. Well, that's what the city was called when they were alive. Now it looked like run-down ruins and dilapidated buildings, ghosts of their former selves. A twinge of sadness filled the human as they recalled their time in the underground metropolis: playing with monster children of all shapes and sizes, laughing freely and forgetting the pain they experienced on the surface during years past. Currently, the two were on the outskirts of Home, on a balcony that overlooked the old city, their old house visible in the center of it all. Chara and Asriel would come here sometimes after playing in a nearby park and just look out. Chara would make a joke about how "everything they could see would be ruled by King Asriel" and they'd laugh as Asriel would grow flustered, stammering about how that was a long ways off.

Chara's smile fell as they remembered how that future would never come to be. "Sorry," they said suddenly to the goat next to them.

"Huh? For what?" Asriel seemed shocked at the abrupt apology.

"For what?" So many things flew through Chara's head at once that they let out an exasperated, "For everything!" The words continued to flow from their mouth. "It's my fault you're dead! If I was thinking clearly back then, I could have separated our souls so only I died, and then you would still be alive and…"

"Chara!" Asriel cut in loudly, effectively stopping his older sibling's ramblings. "It's okay, Chara. I forgive you."

"You… forgive…?" Chara could scarcely believe his own ears. After everything that had happened, Asriel still forgave them?

Asriel nodded. "I understand why you did what you did: with our plan, you were trying to free the Monsters from the Underground. And the reason you wanted to attack those humans on the surface is because you didn't want me to die. But they were scared too, Chara, and that's why they attacked us. So, in the end, even though you want my forgiveness, I think no one is really 'at fault,' and instead I should be thanking you for trying to protect me!" The monster finished with a huge grin on their face.

"No one's… at fault…" All Chara could do was echo their brother's words, dumbfounded at his kindness and forgiving nature, even in death. Chara then couldn't help but chuckle, shaking their head. Here they were, ready to accept Asriel's anger, thinking that was nothing short of what they deserved, and the goat was giving him a big, goofy grin as if they had just shared some silly joke. Chara turned back to the scenery, unable to keep the smile off their face too – Asriel's good mood was contagious. "You always were a giant softy."

"What?" Asriel scowled. "That's because you were always- wait." Asriel couldn't believe their eyes. "Are… are you  _crying?_ "

Chara quickly swerved their face away from the monster's stare. "N-no I'm not!" Though they vehemently denied it, their voice had cracked halfway through.

"You totally are!" Asriel got up and tried to walk around to see.

Chara got up soon after and turned, keeping their face out of sight. "I just said I'm not! Don't say s-stupid things!" Could you blame them though? The amount of relief that washed through Chara's body was overwhelming. It was the weight of his own brother's death, the guilt his soul had felt even past death, the fear of rejection from the sibling he held dear – with their brother's forgiveness, they finally felt free.

When they finally calmed down, the fourteen-year-old turned back to Asriel, all smiles. "Thanks."

Asriel feigned innocence, grinning cheekily. "For what? Not calling you a crybaby?"

"Oh, that's it! You're gonna get it now!" The two laughed as they ran around the small area overlooking the ruins of Home. The red leaves underneath Chara crunched as they bolted from the buttercup flower patch, running up and down the balcony's length. Finally, Chara grinned wickedly as they cornered Asriel. "You're in for the noogie of a lifetime!" They pounced.

"Wait, Chara! Don't!" Asriel cried, suddenly alarmed.

Chara's outstretched arms reached for their brother's torso, but instead they fell right through and slammed into the stone barrier of the balcony. Before they could even registered what had happened, the balcony's railing gave into the heavy impact, and Chara scrambled backwards just fast enough to watch the weakened stone break off and topple down to the cityscape below. Their heart raced a mile a minute upon realizing that they too could have easily tumbled over the side with it. But, but how could that be? They were trying to grab onto their brother, but then they passed through? What?

Chara finally turned to find their brother's head hanging low, pointedly avoiding their questioning gaze. The goat's voice came out quiet and apologetic. "Um, Chara? T-there's something we need to talk about…"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 2

"So, mind telling me what's going on?"

Chara and Asriel were leaning against the stone entryway that leads to the now-broken balcony overlooking the ruins of Home. Well, Chara was leaning against it while Asriel made the appearance of doing so, being incorporeal and all. The light-hearted mood between the two had all but disappeared while the goat monster mulled over how to start.

"I'm, um, not physically here with you."

"Yeah, I got that much," Chara had all but snapped, glaring impatiently at their brother. Seeing Asriel's uncomfortable expression, the human quickly looked away and took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry. I guess what I'm asking is: do you know why you're a ghost while I'm not? Actually, how are we even here? Didn't we  _die?_ " Feeling themselves get emotional again, Chara forced themself to take another deep breath. They were never good at facing problems rationally; Asriel was the calm and collected thinker while Chara was a person of action. Their mom always said that if Chara let their instinct and emotions get the better of them, soon enough they'd eventually run into deep trouble.

The deceased human grinned sardonically.  _I guess mom was right._

"I'm not actually a ghost," Asriel started to explain. "I think I'm more of a projection of my soul?"

"You think?" Chara parroted, finally turning back to their younger brother.

"I'm not exactly sure about the details, but that sounds about right." The goat prince continued. "My memory is a little hazy, but I think this is happening so we can help the other monsters, as well as help ourselves." At Chara's blank look, Asriel sighed. "This is hard to explain. Let me just start at the beginning."

"As we were about to die, I thought that was our end. My magic was depleted beyond recovery and your body was too injured to survive; we both ceased to exist. But the next thing I know, my soul and consciousness are being both awoken and separated. My consciousness -my  _magic_ \- was put into a buttercup flower!" Startled, Chara was about to comment, but Asriel gave them a look that asked to continue without interruptions. Chara reluctantly acceded. "I couldn't tell you specifically, but I know a long time had passed by, and during it, all I could do was watch this flower come to life with my own magic, but without my memories. Every once in a while, time seemed to almost… reset, but flower-me kept changing up what happened. I think they somehow had control over it. And eventually... they even k-killed other m-monsters over many of these t-time resets."

Asriel's voice cracked, his body shaking with the last sentence while he looked away in shame. Chara wanted to comfort their distraught brother, but being unable to physically hug him, they could only clench their fists in anger at this… flower-Asriel. If they ever found that accursed flower, they'd…

Asriel sniffled, wiping tears from the corners of their eyes with his sleeve. He forced himself to continue – this was important! "My soul was in a limbo for a long time, long enough to watch some more humans fall to the Underground like you once did! But they all perished and the Underground  _changed_. I haven't seen anyone genuinely smile in a really long time, Chara. Everyone seems so hopeless and it's like they forgotten what it means to be happy. After each 'reset,' everyone got more and more negative: some grew more depressed, others angry, some even grew suspicious of other monsters or started blaming themselves!" Asriel turned to look straight at the human, their eyes filled with sorrow. "Even you."

"What?" Chara was dead this whole time. How could they possibly feel anything?

"With every flower-reset, your soul seemed to grow darker and heavier." He explained, "You know how mom taught us that human souls are stronger than monsters'? They can even persevere after the body dies, so the Underground resets were affecting you too." Asriel frowned at the memory. "That's when I made the decision that I had to do something."

"About the flower?"

The goat prince deflated further. "No, I can't do anything against the flower, n-nor the resets. But! We can do something about the monsters and their problems!"

Chara pushed off the stone wall. "We already tried to break the barrier before. We both kind of died in the process, remember?"

"No, not the barrier. Their  _inner_  problems!" Asriel was starting to look excited again.

"Do I look like a therapist to you?" Chara deadpanned.

Asriel whined in response, exasperated. "Lemme finish: you know how you told me that human's have a saying about 'fighting your inner demons'? I thought we could do that, but  _literally_!" The monster's face was beaming.

Chara blinked. Never before had they been so confused. "I… don't follow."

"We're going to help monsters in the Underground by having you fight them."

"You want me to hurt monsters?!" Nuh-uh! Absolutely not! Chara would never harm an innocent monster—

"Not actually  _them_ , but a part of them? The dark part of them?"

"Are you asking? Because that sounded more like a question than an explanation."

"Argh!" Asriel threw up their arms in frustration.

"And why me?" Chara asked. "Wouldn't it be better to ask someone else? Use a different soul not affected by these resets?"

Asriel's expression grew somber and their voice quieted. "But if I didn't, your soul…" He mumbled the rest, far too quiet for Chara to hear.

Chara walked closer to their brother's ethereal form. "I didn't quite get that. What about my soul?"

Asriel never got the chance to reply as another voice cut in from underneath the archway leading to their location. "Hello? Is someone there? I thought I heard a voice."

They could only watch in stunned silence as a familiar form stepped out from the shadows. The human couldn't believe their eyes and ears. Could it really be…? Was it really…? Chara's voice cracked when they finally spoke. "M-mom?"


End file.
